George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush ended up hearing a sermon that was highly critical of material wealth and prestige. This is very much in keeping with Christian traditions and teachings, which makes the fact that this sermon is newsworthy itself very newsworthy - because it reflects the sad state of American Christianity.

The Miami Herald reports:

The Very Rev. Martin Luther Agnew preached Sunday to a packed Episcopal church just down the road from the Bush family's seaside estate. Its oceanfront parking lot was filled with luxury cars made by Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo, testament to the wealth of the summer visitors at this southeast Maine resort.

"Gated communities," Agnew said, "tend to keep out God's people." But, he said, "Our material gifts do not have to be a wall. They can very well be a door. Jesus says, `Sell your possessions and give alms,'" Agnew said. "I'm convinced that what we keep owns us, and what we give away sets us free."

The former president sat stone-faced through this parable, even as his family, including the current President Bush, looked at him and smiled. ... "Brothers and sisters, what God is inviting us to do is get on the ball," Agnew said, again imploring his audience to part with their possessions.

Agnew is a “guest” minister from Louisiana. I think that it wasn’t coincidental that this particular sermon happened to fall on the very last day of this assignment. How much do you want to be that he won’t be invited back again? There was a time when churches might be expected to challenge members and provide an alternative viewpoint to what the rest of society promoted.

Not today, though. This sort sermon isn’t all that common, it seems, and that’s why it make such news. The Bush family doesn’t hear this sort of message when they usually go to church, even though it is arguably one of the focal points of Jesus’ ministry as described in the New Testament. Why do you suppose that is? If more heard this message, do you suppose America would be any different?

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